In an 11-2 vote, following a 45-minute executive session, the School Board approved the Superintendent's nomination of Stephen Bell as the new Dexter Regional High School Principal, giving him a two-year contract with a starting salary of $66,000. Those voting against were Barbara Wakefield (Ripley) and Andrea Rollins (Garland). And so we close the door on the worst-kept secret in town.
Alan Smith, principal at Dexter Middle School, is resigning effective June 30 to begin as Superintendent in Union 90 (Alton, Bradley, Greenbush, and Milford).
The Board voted $1,016,174 as maximum total compensation for non-represented employees for FY 2007. (Non-represented employees - literally, those not represented by a bargaining unit -- are administrators and "confidential" employees.)
That's all for now. Tomorrow, what didn't happen at this meeting, and more.
6 Comments:
One of the most important responsibilities of the elected School Board membership is the acceptance (or rejection) of a Superintendent's nomination for an administrative position ( Principal, Vice-Principal,Guidance, Teacher, etc.) As a former Board member I would argue that the Superintendent has the right to select the candidate of his choice; the Board has the right to ratify or nullify that choice if it chooses to and each must be held accoutable for their actions.
In past meetings with some of the current Board members, I was assured by several that if Mr. Bell were nominated to replace Mr Bailey, they would never support the nomination. Out of respect for the process that is used, I did not post remarks as to my opinion of Mr. Bell prior to the decision of the Board.
I express my admiration to the two Board members, Barbara Wakefield of Ripley, and Andrea Rollins of Garland for demonstrating the courage to vote their conscience against the "good old boys"
In my experiences with Mr. Bell, while I was a MSAD 46 Board member, my observation was ( and is) that he is indecisive,and intellectually unimpressive.
To paraphrase Mr. Jordan when he remarked about the voters future decision for a "state of the art [facility] or the status quo" ;
the choice for a new High School Principal could have been between an inspiring leader or the status quo.
In my opinion the Board chose the status quo.
I'm so glad my kids have already graduated so they don't have to finish their high school careers with Steve Bell as their prinicipal. It was bad enough that he was the VP while they were there. He's simply not mature enough for the job.
He's not a good role model, he doesn't respect the students and they don't respect him. He wasn't voted in because he was the best candidate for the job. He was voted in because he was a jock in high school and he came back. He was available and it looked like someone else wanted him.
Good 'ole boys always stick together in Dexter. Always have, always will.
This is why our district will never move forward...courtesy of the "good ole boys" we have at the helm (board members,administrators, etc.). It's truly a shame that we had to settle for "2nd best-???" to fill such an important position as the principalship at DRHS.
It appears obvious that the only intent of this blog site is to slander individuals and other various groups within SAD#46. With that in mind, many of the districts residents were wondering what Mr. Johnson had in mind for an encore performance at this years middle school spring concert. In case you missed it Mel started a near riot with some of the parents by standing and yelling at others to "shut the ***** up!" Classy move for the chairman of the board. Amazing how that was swept uder the rug by his "good ole boys". What is with the "good ole boys" attacks anyway. Sounds like Mel and Art are a little bitter about being voted out of their leadership roles by their peers. Life goes on. They shouldn't be holding the whole district hostage (including the kids who have a chance at a new school)with their anger management issues. Last thought for today. If Art is so in favor of public meetings and discussions, he needs to be reminded of the closed door sessions and pre-arranged vote that removed a popular soccer coach not too long ago. Several board members didn't even know what was going on! From this vantage point, Mel and Art were the grandfathers of the "good ole boys club" and pre-arranged votes.
You bet I'm in favor of public meetings, especially when it concerns such monumental and far reaching decisions as the potential closings of two community schools and the expenditure of 20 million dollars of taxpayer funds.
To somehow equate that with the nonrenewal of a soccer coach is demeaning to the citizens who have the right to decide what their elected school board membership is planning. After all, the school board is supposed to serve the public, not the other way around.
The previous writer should remove himself from the kitchen, if he can't stand the heat.
I've put up the draft minutes from the May 3 School Board Meeting at our "sister" site, Citizens of MSAD 46 (http://citizensofmsad46.blogspot.com/). Not official, of course, until approved at the following (in this case, June 14th) Board meeting.
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